Wednesday, October 12, 2011

We had fun making our own robot control panels. We glued on all sorts of buttons--buttons for going in reverse, buttons for jumping, buttons for speaking Spanish (A Buzz Light-year idea perhaps?), etc. Luckily we all remembered to include off buttons! We did a robot dance to some 80's techno music to show off our robot moves.

To make your own robot control panel, send your husband to the case-lot sale at Smith's. Then gather all of the cardboard trays they use to corral the canned beans and spray paint them silver (do this step without the kids around--spray paint is not a preschool friendly activity). Add "buttons" with shapes cut out of construction paper and you are ready for your own robot dance.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

We start our day with free choice centers! Though it may look like we are just playing--we are learning and developing new skills. But its so fun--we don't even notice. These centers change each week. Our friends are excited each Tuesday morning to see what they will get to "play" with that week!

The dramatic play dollhouse is where we have fun role-playing, using our imaginations, working together, and most importantly learning to share! Dollhouses are not just for girls-- we all play together. Miss Megan enjoys hearing all the kids talking like moms and dads while they play--definitely skills they will use in the future.

Even though most of us don't know all of our letters yet, sometimes we play letter games to help us with pre-literacy skills. Matching these magnet letters with the letters on the magnetic cards helps us to learn to recognize letters and is an important pre-reading skill. Plus we develop our coordination and small muscle development as we sort through magnets looking for just the right one.

Did I mention it was fun, too?

Unifix cubes require kids to practice their coordination to snap them together. They also provide preschool kids with opportunities to measure things using non-standard units of measurement. We try to put them together to cover the whole distance of the room or to see if we can make one as tall as a friend. We also can practice color recognition and in the next few months--pattern making!

How many cubes does it take to cover your elbow?

Which of your towers is the longest?

These are only a few of the centers we have loved so far this year.
Ask your child about their favorite learning center!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

This year we will be learning all our ABCs. To start out, we learned about what the letters are! We read some alphabet books, played some alphabet games, sang some alphabet songs, did our letter-cise exercise (that was hard work!), and made our own bowls of alphabet soup. We read the book Martha Speaks and talked about how all those letters in the alphabet soup worked together to make the words that Martha used to talk. Talking dogs are so funny!

We were so worn out after all that, we recharged by eating our alphabet crackers for snack!

To make your own alphabet soup bowl, cut out two construction paper circles (use two bowls to trace them--making one circle slightly smaller than the other). Glue them together with a glue stick. Then make dots all over your "soup bowl" with good ole' Elmer's glue. Stick on all the letters you like. Then stick on a plastic spoon and let it dry. Now you have a bowl of alphabet soup for display. Try to find all the letters of your name! See if you have the whole alphabet represented in your bowl!! *You could also try this craft with alphabits cereal (use white paper instead of orange--so it can be your milk instead of your soup.)

On our first day, we learned how we need to behave so that everyone can have a fun and safe time in preschool. We sit on the rug flat on our pockets with our legs crossed in front. Gosh, these kids are cute when they sit the preschool way!

We have 5 rules in our classroom to help us with our learning and fun.

1. Eyes are watching
2. Ears are listening
3. Mouths are Quiet
4. Hands are Behaving
5. Feet are Still

We even learned a song about it! Ask your munchkin to sing it for you!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

We are closing in on the end of summer! Registration packets were mailed today, and I am looking forward to meeting my new preschool friends! Our back to preschool open house will be held on August 25th from 7-8 pm.

I can't wait for the fun to begin.

P.S. There is one opening left in our class this year. Hurry! I'm sure it won't last long.

About Happy Day Preschool

Happy Day Preschool is located in Price, UT near Castle Heights Elementary. It is taught by Miss Megan, a licensed teacher with a degree in Elementary and Early Childhood Education from BYU. Megan has experience teaching kindergarten and preschool and is the mother of 4 children.